BART looks into raising parking fees

TRANSIT Full lots, upkeep costs lead to review of pricing

Updated 11:33 pm, Sunday, December 9, 2012

Parking spots are scarce at the West Oakland station despite a $5 charge. Fees are lower or nonexistent at other BART stations.

Parking spots are scarce at the West Oakland station despite a $5 charge. Fees are lower or nonexistent at other BART stations.

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

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Currently week days are charged $5 between 4am and 3pm at the West Oakland BART station in Oakland, Calif. on Friday Dec. 7, 2012. BART is considering possible increases in parking fees because of chronic overcrowding. less

Currently week days are charged $5 between 4am and 3pm at the West Oakland BART station in Oakland, Calif. on Friday Dec. 7, 2012. BART is considering possible increases in parking fees because of chronic ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Image 3 of 3

The parking lot filled at the West Oakland BART station in Oakland, Calif. on Friday Dec. 7, 2012. BART is considering possible increases in parking fees because of chronic overcrowding.

The parking lot filled at the West Oakland BART station in Oakland, Calif. on Friday Dec. 7, 2012. BART is considering possible increases in parking fees because of chronic overcrowding.

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

BART looks into raising parking fees

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With BART carrying record loads and parking lots filling fast at more and more stations, the transit system is considering whether it's time to boost parking charges, perhaps tripling them, and adjusting them by station based on demand.

Alicia Trost, a BART spokeswoman, said the district hasn't reviewed or revised its parking policies in several years, and it's trying to make sure it covers the costs of policing, cleaning and maintaining parking.

"We're looking at ways to raise revenue, at ways to cover the cost of providing parking," she said.

So BART is considering a proposal to raise parking charges incrementally as demand increases. A plan being considered would raise parking fees - now $1 at most stations - by 50 cents a day as many as two times a year but would set a cap of $3, except at West Oakland and in San Mateo County, where prices are already set by demand. Monthly rates would increase by $10.50, about 50 cents a day. Parking is free on weekends.

"If a lot consistently fills up at a certain time of day for a certain period of time, it would trigger a rate increase," Trost said.

Conversely, if parking demand started to drop, perhaps because of a rate increase, the transit agency would drop the prices. That happened in 2009 when BART raised rates from $2 to $3 a day at the Daly City station and saw a lot of empty spaces in its lots. The agency dropped rates back to $2.

High volume desired

About a quarter of the people taking 366,000 weekday rides on BART park in one of the agency's 36,000 spaces, Trost said. At 26 of the 33 stations with parking, they pay $1, a fee that was gradually instituted at stations where lots and garages fill early in the morning. But those parking at West Oakland, which has an extremely high demand for parking, are charged $5. Parking is free at six stations where the lots don't usually fill up.

BART raises between $15 million and $16 million a year from parking charges, Trost said, and would gain about $5 million more by raising the general parking charge to $1.50.

The transit agency, which has had a surplus in its operating budget for the past two years, is taking a hard look at its costs and potential sources of revenue as it tries to figure out how to raise $7.5 billion for infrastructure improvements needed to handle the next 25 years of growth.

BART's board of directors must make the call on parking charges, as it does on fare increases, but its staff has put together the proposal to start the discussion. A customer survey is under way on the BART website - www.bart.gov - but no date has been set to consider parking changes.

Demographics a factor

Parking has long been a controversial issue at BART, which used to offer it without charge at all stations. In the past, discussions of parking fees have often devolved into nasty fights pitting the directors from the East Bay suburbs, where the vast majority of the parking is located, against those representing the urban areas of the East Bay and San Francisco.

Those demographics are likely to influence the debate this time, too, but some directors are sounding more amenable to compromise. Joel Keller, a director from Pittsburg, who represents commuters paying the highest fares and with the fewest alternatives to driving to BART, said he's not opposed to parking fee increases but would like to see them considered as part of a larger discussion of the district's fare structure, including the $1.75 base fare, and future increases.

'A balanced approach'

"It's appropriate to look at the pricing of parking," he said. "But ultimately, if we're going to look at parking charges, it's important that we take a balanced approach. Since virtually all of the parking is in the East Bay, an increase in parking is a fare increase on East Bay riders only."

Tom Radulovich, a San Francisco director who has long advocated boosting parking fees to cover costs, agreed with the need for fairness, and to take a comprehensive look at the overall cost of taking a ride on BART.

"Looking at parking charges in tandem with fares makes sense," he said. "For every rider we chase away with higher parking charges, we're also chasing someone away with higher fares."

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